With three stories told two ways, this third book in Deveraux's Summerhouse series (The Girl from Summer Hill, 2016, etc.)...
Three women sharing a house in Summer Hill, Virginia, use a time-traveling service to rewrite their pasts.
After a therapist conspires to bring Elise, Kathy, and Olivia together to bond over their failed marriages, they spill their secrets in a cheerful cacophony of dialogue: Elise has just fled her cheating husband, Olivia has divorced and remarried, and Kathy doesn’t know it yet, but she’s about to join their club. All three stories are juicy and entertaining. Halfway through, the book takes a sharp turn when the women discover they can go back in time to the moment before it all went wrong by drinking a special tea made from, according to the potion maker, “herbs that help you relax.” In three weeks, they’ll return to the present to see the results. Olivia, a 60-something newlywed, is mourning the years she wasted with her philandering ex instead of marrying her current husband when they met 40 years ago. Twenty-something Elise regrets marrying the man chosen for her by her controlling parents and has a recurring fantasy that her gardener will carry her away on the back of his horse. (A wealthy white woman falling for her Mexican gardener is a cliché, but to Elise’s credit, she looks up from Alejandro’s shirtless torso long enough to learn he has a degree in botany, and he schools her in the process.) Alongside the budding romances, the friendships are in full bloom. Kathy, in her 40s and the curviest woman of the three, worries that the two skinnier women are judging her, but their stories reassure her that heartbreak comes in all sizes—and she goes back in time to change how she feels about herself.
With three stories told two ways, this third book in Deveraux's Summerhouse series (The Girl from Summer Hill, 2016, etc.) is emotional, imaginative, and gloriously silly.Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7783-0761-7
Page Count: 417
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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